Students Arrested For Tying Bow On Bangkok Monument

Setting out to raise awareness of a Thai political activist’s recent abduction, three students tied a bow on Bangkok’s Democracy Monument and were then arrested.

The students wanted answers surrounding the activist’s abduction as they called on the Thailand and Cambodia governments to address the situation.

The students were charged for violating the Road Traffic Act. The Student Union of Thailand posted a live stream yesterday from the protest showing police removing the ribbon and taking students to the police department. The group also posted photos of white ribbons tied to objects throughout Bangkok.

Political activist, 37 year old Wanchalearm Sataksit, was abducted last Thursday in broad daylight while living in exile in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The Human Rights Watch claimed Sataksit was dragged into a black car last week by a group of armed men and has been missing ever since. He ran an anti-government Facebook page. Thai police issued an arrest warrant in 2018 accusing him of violating the Computer Crime Act for writing a post that allegedly incited unrest.

The Cambodian police announced yesterday that they will investigate Sataksit’s disappearance after the Royal Thai Police reportedly said, “This did not take place on Thai soil … Thai authorities do not have the authority to meddle.”

The former deputy director of the National Intelligence Agency says Thailand doesn’t have the resources to investigate, and urges people not to assume Sataksit has been abducted and killed.

“An abduction is a high-risk operation and needs a superpower nation to do it … Thailand is not a superpower.”

Read More: Thai Model Speaks Up After Political Activist Goes Missing

 

SOURCE: The Thaiger

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